SKILLMAN, N.J. (Jan. 4, 2013) – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released its first set of 2013 men’s and women’s rankings on Thursday evening, with the ETSU men’s tennis team slotted No. 71, along with four men and two women earning regional rankings.

The men’s team was part of the ITA’s top 75 in 10 of 16 polls a year ago, including a season-high posting of No. 58 and a final ranking of No. 72.

Senior Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) begins the year at No. 19 in the Ohio Valley Singles Rankings. Bandres went 6-6 over the fall, including a finals appearance at the UVA Fall Classic and a semifinal run at Chattanooga’s Steve Baras Fall Classic. Last year, Bandres went 6-2 in conference play, and clinched the Bucs’ sixth consecutive Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship on his way to being named Tournament MVP.

Joining Bandres in the ITA’s first poll are senior Juan Ramirez (Asuncion, Paraguay), junior Roger Ordeig (Gurb, Spain) and junior Jorge Varon (Valencia, Venezuela), who combine to make up two of the region’s top 10 doubles teams. The pair of Bandres and Ordeig rank No. 7 after a 2-1 fall, while the duo of Ramirez and Varon rank No. 8 after posting a 7-2 record. Both ETSU teams advanced to the quarterfinals at the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships in October.

Also among the regional doubles rankings, on the women’s side, are redshirt freshman Lyn Yee Choo (Kuching, Malaysia) and true freshman Anna Gerbasi (Caracas, Venezulea). Choo and Gerbasi went a team best 9-4 during the fall season, advancing all the way to the semifinals at the Ohio Valley Regional Championships. In their final tournament of the fall season, the young Bucs defeated the country’s No. 14 duo out of Oklahoma State, Malika Rose and Kanyapat Narrattana, at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic.

ETSU’s men open the spring season Jan. 11-13 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the Crimson Tide Indoor Invite. The Buccaneer women begin Jan. 19-21 at the Wake Forest Winter Classic.

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For more information on ETSU men’s and women’s tennis, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.